US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO983

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000983 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR D, SA, SA/INS 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE ALSO PASS TOPEC 
NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  06-14-14 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PTER, CE, LTTE - Peace Process, Political Parties 
SUBJECT:  In meeting with Ambassador, President 
discusses the obstacles to peace talks with the Tigers 
 
Refs:  (A) Colombo-SA/INS 06-14-04 unclass email 
 
-      (B) Colombo 959, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead. 
Reasons 1.5 (b, d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  In a June 11 meeting with the 
Ambassador, President Kumaratunga expressed her 
appreciation for the Co-Chairs' support for the peace 
process and indicated her desire and difficulties in 
getting the Tigers back to peace negotiations.  Her 
flexibility on the substance of the proposed discussions 
have not netted her any reciprocal compromise from the 
LTTE, who remain insistent on only discussing interim 
administration issues at the peace table.  In the 
meantime, the President has publicly outlined her plans 
regarding the GSL's involvement in peace negotiations, 
including efforts to involve the body politic in the 
process.  With the Tigers continuing to be unyielding 
and the latest confusion regarding the President's 
position on agenda items for the talks, the peace 
process continues to be shaky and it is not apparent 
from where a fresh idea for restarting talks will 
emerge.  END SUMMARY. 
 
President:  Ready to talk with Tigers 
------------------------------------- 
 
2.  (C) On the morning of June 11, the Ambassador was 
unexpectedly called to see President Chandrika 
Kumaratunga later that afternoon.  As the meeting 
started, it became evident that the President had 
responded to the Ambassador's meeting request of several 
days earlier to brief her on the Co-Chairs June 1 
meeting in Brussels and subsequent press statement.  (At 
the beginning of the meeting, a tired-looking President 
said she was departing on June 13 on a personal trip to 
London; news reports have indicated she is attending 
daughter Yasodhara's medical school graduation.) 
Thanking the President for seeing him when she was 
clearly busy, the Ambassador said Deputy Secretary 
Armitage had personally underscored the sense of urgency 
the Co-Chairs felt.  All parties in Sri Lanka had to 
work on resuming peace negotiations.  Although the 
international community was vested in a political 
solution to the GSL's conflict with the Liberation 
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Ambassador said that 
other world issues would compete for donors' attention 
and financial aid, especially if Sri Lanka's peace 
process continued to drift. 
 
3.  (C) On one point, however, the Ambassador said there 
should be no question of the international community's 
support -- that all were committed to ensuring the 
sovereignty of Sri Lanka throughout the peace process. 
Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, also present at 
the meeting, shared a letter from Chris Patten, EU 
Commissioner of External Relations, which further 
emphasized the Co-Chairs' support for Sri Lankan 
sovereignty. 
 
4.  (C) The President responded that she was appreciative 
of the Co-Chairs' message of encouragement.  She 
concurred with the need to resume peace talks with the 
LTTE as soon as possible and felt there was still hope 
for progress, despite the remaining differences between 
the two sides.  Both sides were ready to talk.  The 
Norwegian facilitators were insistent on having an 
established agenda to frame the discussions, and that 
the two sides needed to agree on a public statement. 
The President stated, however, that in several drafts of 
a statement, the Norwegians had reflected mostly the 
LTTE's position, without sufficiently taking GSL issues 
into account. 
 
5.  (C) She specifically highlighted the Tigers' 
position to only discuss an interim administration -- on 
the basis of their Interim Self Governing Authority 
(ISGA) proposal -- with talks on final issues to follow 
subsequently.  Detailing the evolution of her thinking, 
the President said that she would be willing to soften 
the GSL's stance that interim and final issues be 
discussed in parallel, if the LTTE agreed to start final 
talks as a mutually approved interim arrangement was 
being implemented.  In response, she said, the LTTE 
would only commit to discussing final issues after an 
interim arrangement was "operational."  The President 
was not receptive to this idea. 
 
6.  (C) Separately, the President described her June 10 
evening meeting with 20 MPs from the Tamil National 
Alliance (TNA), calling the politicians "sincere" in 
their commitment to the peace process.  (See below for 
the TNA readout of the meeting.)  She was said the group 
assured her that the LTTE would not seek a separate 
state, if they were granted an interim administration 
for the north/east.  The MPs also felt that it was 
within her power to change the constitution to 
facilitate a permanent solution to the conflict.  The 
President said she replied that her power was from the 
people and she had to include them in the process. 
 
Tamil Politicians Upbeat after Presidential Meeting 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
7.  (C) Following the June 10 meeting with the President 
-- the group's first private meeting with her in over 
two years -- the Tamil MPs declared that the President 
had agreed to the LTTE's stance that the ISGA would be 
the basis for talks.  The same day, pro-LTTE website 
"TamilNet" reported that the President agreed to discuss 
"core issues after the conclusion of talks on the ISGA." 
Separately, one TNA MP told POL FSN that the President 
would commence talks in August, based on the LTTE's ISGA 
proposal. 
 
8.  (C) The President did not agree with the TNA's 
version of the June 10 meeting.  She expressed 
frustration when recounting early June 11 comments made 
by R. Sampanthan, a senior TNA MP, who told the press 
the President had agreed to discuss the ISGA, set up an 
interim administration and then talk about final issues. 
 
Presidential Address 
-------------------- 
 
9.  (C) In her first major address since the April 2 
parliamentary elections that brought her United People's 
Freedom Alliance (UPFA) to power, the President 
delivered a televised speech to the nation on the 
evening of June 12.  The wide-ranging speech outlined 
key policy initiatives on the economic and political 
matters, including the peace process.  Highlights of the 
speech (Ref A), as related to the peace process follow: 
 
-- "The two parties (GSL and LTTE) are still working out 
what the next round of peace negotiations should be 
about," referring to the LTTE's desire to focus on 
interim administration only while the government wished 
to also engage in discussions on a permanent solution. 
 
-- "As a responsible Government, we take very seriously 
the urgent need to undertake effective development work 
in the North & East, and are willing to explore with the 
LTTE interim political measures that can address this 
need...with the sovereignty...of the country." 
 
-- The creation of a "broad-based national forum -- the 
National Advisory Council on Peace and Reconciliation -- 
that will provide a mean for the people of the country 
to contribute to a political settlement and work towards 
reconciliation." 
 
-- The establishment of a "continuing dialogue with all 
the political leaders of the various communities and 
groups represented in Parliament...parallel to talks 
between the GSL and the LTTE."  The dialogue is intended 
to keep the country informed of progress of talks with 
the LTTE and to convey to the LTTE the views of all 
concerned parties.  (The President had also expressed 
her intent to the Ambassador to convene the political 
parties for such a dialogue.) 
 
-- "A negotiating team will be nominated from among 
senior Cabinet Ministers, after dates for talks are 
agreed upon." 
 
10.  (C) On June 13, TamilNet carried reports of a 
negative LTTE reaction to the President's speech, 
accusing her of "linking the ISGA with a permanent 
political solution."  The report also characterized the 
President's desire to discuss "core issues" in parallel 
to interim administration talks as a new condition. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
11.  (C) The President, while strongly committed to 
resuming peace negotiations with the LTTE, appears to be 
wavering in her approach to negotiations.  She seems 
torn between appeasing the Tigers (and their wishes) to 
get them to the peace table and listening to members of 
her party, especially Foreign Minister Kadirgamar, who 
strongly advocates a Tiger commitment to final talks 
sooner rather than later.  It is not clear how this 
latest clash occurred, whether she actually told the 
TNA, "ISGA only in initial talks" on June 10 or whether 
they misunderstood her intent.  On the southern front, 
the President will also have to focus energy on the 
increasingly negative comments on the peace process by 
the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the major alliance 
partner in her minority government, who publicly oppose 
any discussion with the LTTE based on the ISGA.  In 
recent talks with the Ambassador, both the President and 
Foreign Minister recognize the need for an alternative 
option to get the Tigers back to the peace table, but so 
far, no fresh ideas have been forthcoming. 
 
12.  (C) COMMENT Continued:  Norwegian Ambassador Hans 
Brattskar told Ambassador June 14 that the situation was 
"confusing and discouraging."  Brattskar said he would 
travel to Kilinochchi on June 16 for discussions with 
LTTE leadership, and meet with the Co-Chairs on June 17 
before heading to New Delhi where Norwegian Deputy 
Foreign Minister Helgesen will be visiting.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
13.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
LUNSTEAD